The 103rd Tour de France

Posted on 27/06/2016

The 103rd Tour de France is approaching us and it looks as exciting as ever. In the year’s largest sporting event, contenders will cover nearly 2,200 miles (a decent dent in our #bike2016 challenge targets!) all in the name of cycling. So as keen cyclists here at ViewRanger we thought we would share some background on the event to get you started. Don’t forget Le Tour de France takes place from the 2nd to the 24th of July, that’s 3 weeks of hard-core cycling!

The riders start in Mont Saint Michel with 21 stages ahead of them,and these tasks are not for the faint-hearted. With elements incorporated for all kinds of cyclists there are 9 flat stages, 1 hill stage, 9 mountain stages and 2 time trials. The 21 stages pass through some of the most stunning areas of France, including the highest mountain in France, Mont Blanc, and not forgetting 3 of France’s neighbouring countries; Spain, The Principality of Andorra and Switzerland. The route concludes in the spectacular city of Paris with impressive views of the Arc De Triomphe. Alongside the main stages there are also 16 unseen sites and stage cities during the event to keep an eye on!

So with Chris Froome currently holding the title and the yellow jersey from 2015, will 2016’s route determine a new champion? We can’t wait for the excitement to begin! Remember you can try out some of the previous Tour de France routes here and keep an eye out for new routes coming up from this year’s event.